Christian Boarding School Accused of Abuse

(CN) – A West Virginia teen was so sexually and otherwise abused while attending a Baptist boarding school that he ran off into the “wilderness,” having no place else to go, a lawsuit claims. In a complaint filed May 22 in the Kanawha County circuit court, William Jesse Forbes, the guardian of the alleged victim, identified only as “A.B.,” says the teen attended the Blue Creek Academy operated by the Bible Baptist Church for about two years. During that time, Forbes says, the boarding school which held itself out as “an alternative to today’s degenerate, secular culture and education methods” fostered “a dangerous and neglectful environment imposing policies that resulted in significant and tragic injuries to the Plaintiff A.B.” Specifically, Forbes claims the teen was subjected to “malnourishment, isolationism, corporal punishment, starvation and physical abuse” by the authorities at the boarding school, and that the youth was “sexually abused by another resident of the facility due to the lack of supervision and other improper standards utilized by the facility.” On top of all this, the academy “also committed educational neglect,” the complaint says. So bad were A.B.’s experiences at the school, that he finally ran away on June 10, 2014, and no suffers from diagnosed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Reactive Attachment Disorder, and Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Forbes seeks compensatory and punitive on claims of negligence, negligent supervision and hiring, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and civil conspiracy. The plaintiffs are represented by Troy Giatras and Matthew Stonestreet of Charleston, West Virginia. Representatives of the Blue Creek Academy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.